Light trucks having an open truck bed, also known as "pickup trucks", are a popular vehicle for personal and commercial transportation uses. The large area of the truck bed offers ample space for stowing and transporting items of many shapes and sizes, and the relatively similar size of the truck to that of a large car permits maneuverability and ease of use that makes these trucks suitable for both personal and commercial purposes.
However, the truck bed in a pickup truck is of a limited length, which makes it difficult to transport long articles such as lumber, pipes and many other articles which are frequently desired to be transported in these trucks. Users resort to leaning long articles on the top of the tailgate, or leaving the tailgate open, both of which present problems in fastening the load securely in the truck bed.
Moreover, because the truck bed generally has an open top, the tailgate provides a significant amount of wind resistance, which reduces fuel economy and can under certain circumstances render controlling the truck more difficult. Again, users will often leave the tailgate open when driving to avoid this problem (where the load does not require that the tailgate be closed), which increases the effective length of the truck and can present a hazard to other drivers.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a tailgate in the form of a tubular grate. The openings between tubes allow wind to flow through the tailgate even when it is closed, improving fuel economy without sacrificing safety or the ability to secure a load from shifting sideways or falling off of the back of the truck. Furthermore, the openings provide well defined passages through which long articles such as lumber and pipes can be passed, the tubes of the tailgate serving both to keep such loads from shifting sideways in the truck bed and to provide a frame against which the articles can be tied to prevent slippage off of the back of the truck bed.
The tailgate of the present invention is provided with an optional solid panel, which can be secured to the front face of the tailgate to retain loose loads such as sand, soil, gravel, etc. This panel can be of plastic or other similar material, and is preferably corrugated for increased strength. The optional panel can be stored behind the seat in the cab, or in any other convenient location, until needed.
The present invention thus provides a tailgate for a truck having side and front walls and a floor defining a truck bed, comprising a plurality of horizontal members extending between side rails in spaced relation, a plurality of vertical members extending between the horizontal members in spaced relation, hinge means adjacent to a bottom of the side rails for mounting the tailgate between rear edges of the side walls, such that the tailgate can swing between an open position substantially parallel to the truck bed and a closed position abutting a rear edge of the side walls, and latch means for latching the tailgate in a closed position.